New shots about museum guns

2005-06-10 22:29

Cape Town - The SA National Museum of Military History in Johannesburg is being investigated for apparent irregularities in connection with illegal weapons, said Safety and Security Minister Charles Nqakula in parliament on Friday.

The department corrected an earlier statement in which it incorrectly said the National History Museum in Pretoria was under investigation.

His spokesperson Trevor Bloem said: "The minister travels between Johannesburg and Pretoria a lot - it sometimes gets confusing."

Without revealing details of the investigation, Nqakula told the safety and security portfolio committee that "the museum has a lot to answer for".

"We won't divulge further details other than to say they have a case to answer there," he said explaining that functional weapons had been found that had allegedly been destroyed, in the museum.

On record as being destroyed

Alluding to "mysterious trucks with muddy tires" being used to transport weapons across rough terrain, Nqakula said investigators had found 32 AK-47 assault rifles and 708 other weapons on the premises.

He said that, of the AK-47 rifles, four were on record as having been destroyed in 2001, 17 were said to have been destroyed in 2002, one was on record as being sold to an oversees buyer and 10 had disappeared.

Investigators found a further 708 weapons in the museum. Of these, 484 apparently didn't appear on the firearms registry.

He said the investigation had started in February, but could not say when it would be completed.

Nqakula told the committee that unrelated investigations revealed that certain government departments and municipalities also had firearms.

"The previous government handed out weapons to many organisations in a very uncontrolled manner," he said.

He explained that, as part of the drive to remove weapons from society, he wanted co-operation from his fellow ministers and for them to hand the weapons to police.

He told the committee that investigators had found the SA National Defence Force (SANDF) owned 486 pistols with no serial numbers, the department of agriculture owned 48 weapons, the department of health owned 244 and various municipal hospitals were in possession of R-4 and R-5 assault rifles.

80 104 firearms handed in

"In many cases, these weapons have been forgotten about," he said.

Reporting on the success of the general firearms amnesty which was due to be completed on June 30, Nqakula said 80 104 firearms had been collected.

He suggested that amendments would be made to the Firearms Control Act in order to close existing loopholes.

"We have seen the gaps and I am sure you will want to close them," he told the portfolio committee.

- SAPA